The present invention relates to a process and installation for manufacturing a small cake in the form of berlingots(a tetrahedral shaped cake) or pastry cases for example, the inner surface at least of which may be coated with an appropriate product, for example chocolate and/or filled inside with a creamy substance, jam or similar; this invention also relates to the apparatus essential for putting said process into practice and forming part of said installation, as well as the cakes formed in accordance with the process and in the installation of the present invention.
Small cakes are in general manufactured from tubular paste bodies.
In known processes and installations, said tubular body is formed by helically rolling a strip of hot paste, with partial overlapping, about a rolling mandrel; coating of the inner surface or filling of the tubular body thus created is carried out immediately after formation of said tubular body which is still hot and plastic; the tubular body coated or provided with a filling is then sectioned, before it hardens, by means of shears; the sectioning operation by the shears also results in closing and shaping the tubular body and thus creating hollow cakes closed at both ends. In this known process, the shearing movement must be carried out as rapidly as possible so as not to hinder the advance of said tubular body, for a given manufacturing rate. There is then a serious risk that the cakes obtained in accordance with this process do not have identical lengths, which is indispensable for perfect packing thereof. Furthermore, the sectioning operation does not always ensure perfect closure of the tubular body, which is particularly troublesome for cakes provided with filling. In practice, the manufacturing rate cannot be accelerated much, if a good quality and a good finish of the cake is desired. Finally, the cake manufactured by sectioning is still hot and plastic and a progressive cooling system must be provided before being able to proceed to the packing operation.